This past year WSC completed the 18 month process of renewing our academic accreditation with our regional and national accrediting bodies, The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and The Association of Theological Schools (ATS). WSC’s accreditation affords us a number of benefits including accountability for our academic programs, finances, educational rigor, hiring practices, and degree value. Most post-graduate institutions require applicants to possess a Master’s degree from a duly accredited institution, and the federal government requires that institutions who have students that borrow federal loan money are accredited. Our dual-accreditation renewal, therefore, was a vital process in the on-going life and perpetuity of the seminary.
WSC had two different teams audit every aspect of the seminary including our curriculum, policies, finances, trustees, faculty, administration, and students. Each team conducted audits, interviews, and careful study of our documents. WSC submitted two different reports of roughly 100 pages and 2,500 pages each of appendices. Both audit teams submitted reports to their respective agency commissions for final decisions. Both WASC and ATS renewed our accreditation for an unprecedented ten years each, the longest allowable accreditation term. This is first time in WSC’s history that we have received ten-year renewals. We are therefore grateful for this positive outcome and thank the Lord for many answered prayers and for all who contributed to the successful accreditation renewal process.
